American Airlines to Squeeze More Seats on Planes

It says it hasn't determined how many seats will be added

At a company “Town Hall” meeting in Fort Worth, Texas, on Tuesday, AMR’s (AAMRQ) American Airlines said that it will increase the number of seats on Boeing (BA) 737 and MD-80 planes in its fleet. The number of new seats has not been established yet, USA TODAY notes.

By increasing the number of seats on its planes, American hopes to raise the amount of ticket and fee revenue it generates per flight. However, Federal Aviation Administration rules also mandate one flight attendant for every 50 seats. Since the company’s 737s currently have between 148 and 150 seats per plane, adding more seats could mean the airline will have to add another flight attendant on each flight.

Other airlines have also boosted seat counts, including Southwest Airlines (LUV), which has added six seats to some of its 737s.